ARLINGTON -- The Indians had a moment Thursday where they might have broken through against Rangers lefty ace Mike Minor -- something that has been difficult for most teams to do all season -- but Minor slammed the door almost as quickly as Cleveland got its foot in it.

In a 4-2 loss to Texas in Cleveland's final scheduled game at Globe Life Park, the Indians had their best shot at Minor in the sixth, when Minor began his third trip through lineup. The Tribe collected two singles and a walk and worked Minor for 22 pitches in that frame. Jordan Luplow’s RBI single with two runners on plated Cleveland's first run and pulled the club within one at 2-1.

• Box score

Minor then recorded a perfect seven-pitch seventh inning, and though the Indians made him work harder in the eighth, he still retired the side. Minor left after that, improving to 7-4 and lowering his ERA to 2.52.

“He did a good job today, clearly,” said Tribe second baseman Jason Kipnis, who flied out all three times he faced Minor. “He threw tons of strikes, he really just forced the issue of being ready from the first pitch of every at-bat. … He did a good job of just getting us back on our heels early and often.”

Carlos Santana hit his team-leading 15th homer in the top of the ninth and the Indians put the tying run on against Rangers closer Shawn Kelley, but pinch-hitter Mike Freeman struck out to end the game.

Shane Bieber threw six strong innings for the Tribe, striking out eight, walking none and allowing two runs on five hits. His only blemishes came in the first inning. Danny Santana doubled on a potentially catchable ball that left fielder Oscar Mercado seemed to misread, and then Elvis Andrus tripled Santana home.

Andrus scored on a wild pitch that bounced forward off catcher Kevin Plawecki into a no man’s land between the mound and the plate; Plawecki and Bieber both moved for the ball, leaving no one covering home.

“That’s a tough play because right when it came out of his glove, it’s close enough but it’s rolling away from [Plawecki],” Bieber said. “So his first reaction is to go grab that ball, and he thought it was close enough to come back and make that play. [Andrus] got a really good jump off third, too. … It was one of those awkward plays.”

Bieber scattered only two hits the rest of his outing, retiring 16 of his last 18 batters.

“I really just tried to settle in after that and eat up innings,” Bieber said. “I felt like I just executed pitches a little better. ... I was able to fall into a rhythm and move forward from there.”

Bieber might have pitched even longer if the Indians had gotten to Minor.

“I thought he battled his [butt] off,” manager Terry Francona said. “First inning, he’s giving up some hard contact, a couple runs, and he just battled the rest of the way. As a matter of fact, if we tied that game [in the top of the seventh], we were going to let him go back out.”

The Indians split the four-game series with the Rangers, scoring 10 runs each in the middle two games, but those wins were bookended by losses in which they scored only two runs combined against Minor and Lance Lynn, the Rangers’ top two starters.

Despite the series split, the Tribe returns to Cleveland feeling upbeat after a 5-2 road trip.

“We were happy with the way we played [on the trip],” Kipnis said. “Even when we came back in here after a loss, it’s not down spirits. Guys are still, heads are up, we’re talking, ‘Hey, that was a real good road trip.’ Guys are still having good games. We’re excited to go back home.”